Learn Spanish (Latin America): No entiendo esta frase. - I do not understand this sentence.

No entiendo esta frase.

I do not understand this sentence.

Breakdown of No entiendo esta frase.

Questions & Answers about No entiendo esta frase.

How would I change this sentence into reported speech, saying 'He said he did not understand this sentence'?

Because the reporting verb is in the past ('He said' = dijo), the present tense verb entiendo must change to the imperfect tense. You would say, Él dijo que no entendía esta frase.

Since entender is a stem-changing verb (e to ie), does it keep that change when shifted to the imperfect tense for reported speech?

No. The e-to-ie stem change in entiendo only happens in the present tense. When you shift it to the imperfect tense for reported speech, it goes back to its regular stem: entendía.

I sometimes see esta written with an accent mark (está). Why does it not have one here?

Esta without an accent is the demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' (as in esta frase). If you add an accent to the final a (está), it becomes a completely different word: the 'he/she/it is' form of the verb estar.

Can I use oración instead of frase to mean 'sentence'?

Yes! Both oración and frase are commonly used to mean 'sentence'. In strict grammar terms, an oración must contain a verb, while a frase does not have to, but in everyday spoken Spanish, people use them interchangeably.